Chicken Soup for the Kingdom Hearts Lover's Soul
by manyissues101
Summary: Just a bunch of drabbles featuring all sorts of characters, pairings, situations, genres, and ideas. A collection of stories too short to be on their own. Just check it out--you're sure to find something you like!
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to my humble abode! I've been trying to surpass writer's block lately, and drabbles are the best way to do that. So here I go, with lots of little ficlets. There won't be many author's notes since I'm uploading in bulk (I don't have internet except at my grandmother's) so just enjoy the drabbles!

0----0

Strong as the cobblestones, he told himself. Strong and gray and cold. He could remember being a child, feet slapping haphazardly on the stones until his legs were going so fast that he wasn't touching the ground and he'd tumble to his knees. Some passing adult would lift him with a knd word and warned him to be more careful. The cobblestones were tough, slippery and sharp. You could really hurt yourself on those--they were much less forgiving than cool grass or wooden paneling. Strong as the cobblestones, Leon, he repeated to himself, letting Squall slip and fall somewhere behind him.


	2. Differences

We're different...be cause we remember, they told her, shoving her along. But you're even more different because you can make it happen. She took their word for it; she didn't feel different, just lost and confused and more than a little wet behind the ears. But you're different, they told her, a witch among nobodies. We're heartless and nobodies--we're like a damn paradox. Namine finally came to believe them when she felt Sora's memories slipping beneath her grasp. We're different, they told her, because we remember. Namine brushed colors across a page, the color of Sora's eyes, the rainbow of his smile. You're different too, she told sleeping Sora, because you don't remember. Maybe that was the point. But she looked down at her drawing, a blonde where a redhead should be, and blotted it all out....Maybe not...


	3. Highlighter

"I look like a highlighter," she announced to no one in particular because, one, there was no one to announce it to, and two because anyone who happened to be around would roll their--his--Squall--Leon's eyes and say, "Stop worrying about it." It was good advice, to be sure, because there were bigger things to worry about than neon clothes, but still. Yuffie made funny faces at herself in the mirror. A highlighter was better than a member of a nudist colony. She scoffed at the thought of someone trying to stifle her new lifestyle (if she ever tried it out) but soon giggled. Today there were heartless to fight, munny to pilfer, and swordsmen to stalk. Yuffie paused, blinking at herself once more. Maybe she'd bring a little color to the dark alleys of Traverse Town.


	4. Palor

Namine stared because, out of all things, that's what she was best at. Not her clumsy fingers brushing half-sharpened pencils across paper; neither her power, he give over the heart and its depths. Her greatest ability as the talent to _be_, never changing, never obvious. She wasn't part of the background, she _was_ the background. Even Sora was destined to forget all about her. Riku, however, with his confident words and strong arms would take with him the memory of a pale girl on pale walls in a pale castle. And Namine, missing and heart and a conscious and a flush, would be content with just the color of his eyes--a wild splash of color against nothing.


	5. Poetry

"I think I'm going to be a poet," Selphie remarked one day, coolly, like it was nothing. Tidus and Wakka stared at her pointedly.

"Seriously! I'll know lots of big words and I'll write poetry about nature and love and they'll study me in school--"

"You don't know any big words," Tidus blurted out. Selphie grew quite cross.

"I do too! I could write a great poem right now!"

"Do it."

Selphie paused. "Well...the sky is a pleasant turquoise...the rolling waves lap up on the sand...the sun is phantasmagoric--"

"It sounds like you're just throwing up Alphabet Soup."

"Oh shut up! You're just jealous that I'm a better poet than you!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!

"Are too!"

Wakka interrupted. "Uh, guys? If you're going to do this...then I'm going home, ya?"

Selphie and Tidus exchanged a glance. "This isn't over."

"Oh, I know."


	6. Roses

Roses. They ere the symbol of love, of death, of life in-between. Marluxia lovingly stroked the stem, the thorns, pricking his finger and leaving little red droplets in their wake. Ah, the thorns--violence in the midst of beauty. Just like his own tattered, tainted soul. "Oh, what am I going to do with you..." he crushed the flower in his glove and let the waxy petals float slowly to the floor. As he left the room, he stepped on the blood red petals, letting them flatten under his foot. Just like all of their tattered, tainted souls.


	7. Sewing

"I don't even know why I have to take this stupid class!" Sora was mumbling. He picked, frustrated, at his bandaged fingers, Riku rolled his eyes.

"You only say that because you're bad at it."

"Better than being good at it," he teased. "Now...what color do we want?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Whatever."

They stared down the colorful yarn aisle, trying to pick a pattern for their next Home Ec. sewing project.


	8. Go Fish

He could tap her shoulder again because there was still nothing from her, and Riku was getting the slightest bit impatient. But he knew that she was fully aware of the situation, and probably just taking her time to vex him. Her eyes gave nothing away, they were just blank, hidden. Riku gently beat his knuckles against the edge of the table.

Fuu didn't budge, Riku was beginning to wonder if she'd even breathed since they started, and she still didn't make her move. She held the cards near her face, fanned out with uncanny skill, observing and calculating. Riku let out the slightest sigh, but she pretended not to notice.

After a long time (a really really really really long time) Fuu lowered her hands and looked him straight in the eye. "Fish."

Riku suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and picked a card from the top of the stack. "You do realize you sound less stupid when you actually say, 'Go Fish', right?"

Fuu looked at him again, long and hard, but still blank. Riku sighed. He would never, ever play cards with her again.


	9. Memories

"Or maybe," little Namine said, "we can all share the fruit and get married together."

Riku made a face. "But you can only get married to one person."

"Then we'll go far away! Where we can all get married!"

Sora nodded in enthusiasm. Riku appraised Namine's plan with approving eyes. "But are you sure there's a place like that?"

"There has to be! We just have to look for it!"

Namine opened her eyes and exhaled, feeling a bead of sweat (or was it a tear?) roll down her clammy skin. Creating new memories was tedious work, and for a second she felt the pain of a phantom heartbreak.


	10. Mercenary

Notes: This is sort of KH/FFVIII crossover-ish. Fujin's ending is a little up in the air so I can do what I want, even though this probably isn't a possibility, but that's what AU is for, neh? It's pretty mature as well, but I didn't want to label it 'M'.

0----0

"How was that?"

She didn't look at him.

"Come on, girly, give me a little feedback here."

Never sleep with the clients. Ever. That was rule number one, two, and three. She just broke three out of five rules. The other two rules? Never tell them where you're from, and never give out your real name. The business was a strict one, how else could a mercenary operate?

"Come on, Fujin, missing your Garden already?"

She whipped around. "Name? Location? How?"

He stretched back across the bed, a cigarette between his poison lips. "You can knock back quite a few drinks. You gave me your whole life story."

She clenched her eyes shut. "Work?"

"Right." She could hear him moving around. "Here's the information packet, just like you requested."

He was close to her now, and she could smell the smoke coming from the cigarette ready to stain her reputation. She took the packet without turning around, snatching it greedily from his hands. It would be a simple job, should be a simple job, but it was already a little too late for that.

"C'mon, Fuu, what do you say? Can I call you Fuu?"

"No."

"All right, Jini."

"Fujin," she barked, spinning to face him.

"Whatever you say, girly." His smile mocked her, and his eyes were already observing her, learning as much as he could. "My name's Riku, and I need you to take care of a little problem for me. You see, there's this boss of mine, and I don't like the way he's running things. I was thinking that maybe you could," he waves his hand, "knock him down a few rungs on the social ladder."

Fujin swallowed, wondering why suddenly her throat was so dry. "Fine. Gil?"

"About that. I was thinking, girly, that—"

"Payment." She stuck her hand out towards him.

"Didn't I pay enough last night? Who do you think bought all your drinks? You drank away your salary, girly."

0----0

She wondered how she'd ended up like this again, horizontal for him, and sober this time. It had been an easy job, an easy kill, and just another trip to the bar to demand payment—or, it was supposed to be. Instead it was an easy job, and easy kill, a trip to the bar for money—with her dancing on puppet strings the whole time.


	11. Pet Names

"Ah, don't be like that, Larxy!"

Larxene had just snapped one of the strings of his Sitar in a fit of rage. She turned back to him, her eyes as cold as murder.

"Larxy?"

"...Xeney?"

She shrieked and lunged at him, and Demyx had just enough time to liquefy himself before her hands snaked their way around his neck. Larxene growled and shoved off of him. Demyx solidified.

"You don't like my pet names?"

"Next time," she said evenly, "I'll dump you in a river."


	12. Pigtails

Kairi frowned, patting her mahogany hair, now grown out to her shoulder blades. "Maybe I should do something with my hair?" She collected two masses, one in each hand, and held them up, turning to Selphie.

"You look like a naughty schoolgirl playing at being four," Selphie frowned. Kairi groaned and turned back to the mirror.

"Maybe it's hopeless," she sighed, running her fingers through her still damp, now down, tresses.

"Kairi," Selphie rose from the bed and put her hands on Kairi's shoulders, keeping her facing the mirror, "it's your first date with Sora. You could show up in a clown suit and he would still be flustered and embarrassed. You stun him."

"Yeah...I guess you're right..." She looked herself up and down.

"But if you're still worried, we can call Riku and find out if Sora as a thing for naughty school girls."


	13. Anything Tidus Does, Hayner Does Better

"Why do you never want to hang out with me? I'm fun."

The truth was, Hayner was ten times more fun that Tidus. Then times more obnoxious too. And ten times more "I want you to be my bfplz" as well. But Selphie didn't tell him about that last one.

"Yeah, well...I can be better than Tidus."

I know, Selphie thought, but put her hand on her hip and said, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! I can do tons of things better than Tidus!" He gesticulated widely.

Selphie rolled her eyes (hard to get, hard to get). "Name one."

Hayner grabbed her face and pressed his to it and--eeeeekowhmaighawdhe'ssuckinmaiface!-- kissed her. Selphie wrapped her fingers in his hair and pulled herself away, just so that their noses touched, and asked, "What was that for?"

"Am I better than Tidus?"

"...What?"

"...You are dating him, right?"

Selphie began to laugh hysterically and buried her face in his shoulder. "No, Hayner! I'm not dating Tidus!"

"Oh. _Ohhhh_."


	14. Bad Boy Urge

She'd never had this--she couldn't think up a good title for him (bad boy urge, maybe?)--before. She'd had friends, and enemies, and crushes, and parental figures before, but never anything like _him_. Riku had been Sora's friend, and obviously Mickey trusted him, but...Yuffie couldn't shake his apparent bad past. Mickey had brought Riku, Sora, and Kairi with him (he'd wanted to visit everyone one last time, so why not together?) but he didn't quite fit into the group. Consequently, Kairi was attached to his side, so that he wouldn't have to sit alone. Yuffie had, of course, heard many things about him, but she'd never seen him. He was gorgeous. And not just gorgeous--drop-dead, ohmyghawd I can't look away, you can take my heart if you want to (no pun intended) gorgeous. He obviously didn't want to be there, but didn't fancy being left behind. Or maybe Kairi wouldn't let him. Yuffie felt a flush creep up the back of her neck. God, she hadn't spoken to the guy before in her life. She looked across the room at Sora and wondered how anyone could choose him over Riku. Well, more for her. She bit her bottom lip for a moment...(should she?)...oh what the hell--she'd never see him again anyway. Yuffie skipped to the corner of the room.


	15. Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

Night after night, they argued about him. Riku heard them through his door, loud, harsh voices debating about who got him next. I need him for this, I need him for that, they'd say, but Maleficent would always cut them off in that steely voice of hers and rasp, "I found him. He's mine." And, of course, no one could ever argue with her. Finders keepers, losers weepers. They'd all curse and mumble and Riku, his back to the door, imagining that ghoulish smirk of Maleficent's lips, would press his fists deep into his eyes and try not to cry.


	16. Library

Tidus looked at the sign in disdain. He'd never sat foot in such a place, a place where you couldn't speak above a hushed whisper, where biddy old ladies watched your every move, checking you hands for sticky substances and damaging greases. A place full of knowledge, of learning. The library.

Stupid Ms. Thorne and her stupid research project. He actually had to go check out a book. Bah. Tidus pushed open the door, already pouting.

He expected some old hawk lady to swoop out from behind the desk and peck his brains out. Instead...

"Hello? May I help you?" The timid voice belonged to a girl, maybe his age, who sat behind the desk. She, with her sparkling green eyes and curtain of auburn hair and little pouty mouth, she was far from what he'd expected.

"Umm...excuse me? My name's Olette, may I help you?"

Tidus smiled. Maybe the library wasn't so bad after all.


	17. Math Homework

"Roxas...Roxas?" His vision and mindset came back with a snap, like a rubberband to the brain. Olette was standing over him, emerald green eyes sparkling. Roxas blinked a few times. "Uh..." Olette rolled her eyes.

"Did you finish with your math homework?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Not even close."

Olette thrust a paper at him. "That's what you get for daydreaming. But here--you can copy mine."

Roxas recalled that morning--Hayner begging for Olette's math, and Olette berating him, "Cheaters never win."--and stared blankly up at her. Olette flapped the paper in his face.

"But this morning--"

She smiled. "Maybe I like you just a little bit more."

With that, she left him dumbfounded, holding a math paper in one hand, and a heart in the other.


	18. Seaweed

"...Why is there seaweed hanging from the ceiling?"

"We couldn't find any mistletoe."

"And the bucket underneath?"

"It was dripping. But we were short one bucket, so be careful when you go into the kitchen--"

"EWW!"

"What happened?"

"Uh-oh."

"Something just dripped on me!"

"Merry Christmas."

"Now there's a good way to ruin a kiss."


	19. Soul Splitting

It was like the splitting of metal building, a ripping right down it's middle. But it was your heart from your soul from your body from this world--and the sound ringing deep in your ears (or was it your screaming?) was a shrill shriek like nothing before. The pain was like someone had beat you with aforementioned metal building, leaving nothing but an empty shell of a person who couldn't feel or scream or remember why they wanted to or eVen beGIn to TrY and understaND WHAt haD HAPPENED--

--and there was light. You were nothing, you were everything, you were _nobody_.

And the name Sora tasted like validation on your lips.


End file.
